It was around 20 degrees I guess and just before dawn on the next to last day in camp at the 2007 COFA (Christian Outdoor Fellowship of America www.cofausa.org ) elk hunt in Colorado in the mountains, and you might know, nature was calling my name... The date was Oct. 22, 2007.

With my headlamp, I had walked the 25 yards or so down the road, then into the woods about an equal distance to where we had the little outdoor privy hole dug and with light in hand was.... well, you get the rest of the picture...

As I sat, I marveled at how deep dark the sky above was, and how incredibly clear the stars were... It was a celestial view that I had only known once before while wild boar hunting atop a mountain in Tennessee...

Behind me, I could hear "foot-falls", the crunching of snow, and the brushing sound and snapping of twigs as something moved through the heavy cover and could clearly hear that whatever it was, was moving away to my left... Unconcerned at this point, I thought it was most likely a muledeer or a black bear...

The business at hand took a bit longer than normal, and I was there long enough for the sun to come up just enough so that I could see the hill across the road from where I had come...

With task at hand complete, I stood up, and as I did, there came the unmistakable cry of the mountain lion who's tracks I had photographed the day before, including the "tail-drag" marks in the snow! CLICK HERE--->http://www.handloadingforhunting.com/roar.wav

Having never been in real mountain lion country before, my mind raced for the correct thing to do... Of course I knew not to try to run (fat chance, since I can't walk well) but I did have two choices of paths back to the safety of the camp... One was to walk away from the cat and around a small knob, but this would be turning my back on the animal which I didn't want to do... The other choice was to walk back the way I had come, and close the distance between myself and the cat by about half, which is the option I chose... Walking as normally as I possibly could, and making noise with my cain, hitting it against trees and brush, I soon was back in the company of Mike and George... Mike asked if I had heard the cat? Swallowing hard, I resisted the urge to use any well reserved expletives, saying "yep", sure did, and trying not to let on that if I wasn't fully awake when I went to the "privy", I MOST CERTAINLY WAS FULLY AWAKE NOW!!!!
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PLEASE TAKE TIME TO LOOK AT THE FOUR PAGES OF PICTUES I TOOK, INCLUDING THE COUGAR TRACKS WITH THE TAIL MARKS IN THE SNOW... AND TURN YOUR SOUND ON, SINCE I SELECTED THE MUSIC JUST FOR THESE FOUR PAGES. (LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE...)

For me, it was an incredible experience and a great story to tell my grand kids.... Dave

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This is one of a number of pictures that I took of the mountain lions tracks where it had mirrored my movements over one and I believe two days... You can see the rest at the following links on my website and also read a bit more about this encounter. Of note also is that I have spinal cord damage and walk very unsteady... There were 16 of us in camp, and I was the ONLY person this cat seemed to key on!!!
http://www.handloadingforhunting.com/mountainlion.html

Thanks... It was really exciting and I'm looking forward to the trip next year... Next year though, I'll be armed, not with a rifle, but with my digital game cameras... I have four, two Cuddeback and two Moultrie, and I plan on one more, this time with infrared rather than white flash... Sure hope to get the cat on them..._________________No creature could live in my heart like the dog from my boyhood so long ago.
(Quote from Where The Red Fern Grows)

I haven't been on here for a spell... Just sticking my head in the door to say hi, to check on my little story here, and to say that I go into the hospital again tomorrow morning for surgery on my right knee.. AGAIN!
I have posted some mountain lion track pictures from my little adventure on my own website at: http://www.handloadingforhunting.com/mountainlion.html At the bottom of the page is also a link to some pictures of bears that I took on the same trip...

I'll check back in once I am able to get back up the steps to this room... This will be my 4th knee surgery (this time to fix a displaced knee cap) and am pretty used to the struggle so it shouldn't be long before I log back on... Dave_________________No creature could live in my heart like the dog from my boyhood so long ago.
(Quote from Where The Red Fern Grows)